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Lariviere shifts course

Changes made in aftermath of Bellotti buyout

Appeared in print: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, page A6

Through a series of carefully calibrated personnel and organizational moves, University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere has begun to assert control over an athletic department that for too long has operated with a disturbing independence from the school’s administration and an absence of public accountability.

Cynics may argue that Lariviere had to respond to public outrage over the university’s bizarre $2.3 million farewell gift for former athletic director Mike Bellotti — and to investigations into that buyout by the Oregon attorney general’s office and Department of Higher Education.

Some may also note Lariviere’s involvement in the Bellotti affair — his decision to ask the athletic director to resign, his handshake agreement on the severance deal and the university’s delay in correcting earlier misrepresentations about the deal.

Some key questions remain to be answered by the ongoing investigations into the Bellotti buyout. In the meantime, Lariviere has followed through on his promise to clean up the athletic department’s sloppy business practices and to set a new standard of openness appropriate for a public institution.

Last month, he named Lorraine Davis, former UO vice president for academic affairs, as the interim athletics director. The selection of Davis already has had a steadying influence and has helped reassure skeptics on the university’s academic side.

Lariviere’s next move was to reassign general counsel Melinda Grier and begin a search for her replacement. The president refused to say whether her handling of Bellotti’s contract — or, more properly, the absence of a contract — prompted the shift. But Grier’s failure to ensure that contracts were finalized in a timely manner and the department’s lack of transparency clearly were factors.

Then — shortly after UO officials discovered that both Bellotti and his predecessor, Pat Kilkenny, worked for extended periods without signed contracts — the university announced the creation of a new position with a telling title: “executive senior associate athletic director for finance and administration.”

Finally, there were clear indications that Lariviere played a central role in the hiring of the university’s new men’s basketball coach, Dana Altman. The president was conspicuously present at the news conference at which the hiring was announced, and Lariviere made a point of recounting his direct involvement in the search for a new coach and in deciding how much Altman would be paid.

With the investigations into the Bellotti episode still under way, it’s too early to say if Lariviere’s changes will prove sufficient to fix an athletic department whose priorities and business practices were badly askew. But it’s not too early to say the university is headed in the right direction.